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The MTR Corp started playing soft music in concourses at  its stations yesterday as part of a service  to help passengers relieve stress.

All 53 MTR station concourses have started broadcasting music  following a pilot scheme in Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai stations. The company  said passengers had reacted favourably to the music.

But the soothing sounds  were  so soft few passengers could hear them at Quarry Bay station.

Passenger and beautician Angela Ng Wing-ki, 25, from Tung Chung, said she did not hear  music in Quarry Bay and did not know about the  broadcasts. But she said  'many people would find it acceptable'.

MTR spokeswoman Claudia Ho  said only soft music without vocals would be played, but she declined to name the tunes or say whether they would be mostly classical or popular hits.

MTR head of operations Wilfred  Lau Cheuk-man  said the music broadcasts aimed to provide a more comfortable journey for passengers.

'As life in Hong Kong is busy, we hope we can make our passengers more relaxed and moderate their nervousness,' he said.

At this stage, there is no plan to broadcast music on train platforms but  'we will listen to the passengers' response and we will further decide on the next step', Mr Lau said.

KCRC spokesman Siu Kam-hang   said at this stage the company had no plan to offer a similar service.

Meanwhile, from now until the end of the year, volunteers from a community college under the Polytechnic University will  help passengers by  giving directions, helping them to buy tickets and add value to Octopus cards. Most participants major in tourism, hotel management and marketing at the college.

The volunteer programme follows an ongoing service in which students from 18 primary schools work on trains to encourage passengers to give seats to the elderly and disabled.



MTR pipes in soothing sounds to help ease stress of city living